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I'm shocked by this poll. I would have said Milwaukee in a walk. KC has some nice museums and Country Club Plaza, the oldest suburban shopping center in the country, which is awesome. But it doesn't have anything close to Milwaukee's beautiful, vibrant lake front (lower East Side) and downtown riverfront neighborhoods. It also just doesn't seem to be a major city on the level of Milwaukee -- St. Louis, yes, not Kansas City -- that said, I know KC has some very nice areas to live very well and on a reasonable budget. Still, I'll easily vote Milwaukee on this one ... Just my take.
First, the Plaza is not suburban at all. It was built in the 20's and less than four miles from downtown KC. 3 from Crown Center. It really is in the heart of urban KC.
Second, when I think city tiers, St. Louis and Milwaukee are not on the same tier. St. Louis is with Portland slightly above KC and Milwaukee. KC and Milwaukee are slightly above Austin, Indy. But even though they are on the same tier. I think KC is well ahead of Milwaukee.
Location: Jefferson City 4 days a week, St. Louis 3 days a week
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Originally Posted by xavierob82
Milwaukee. Nice town. Very progressive. Tons of colleges and universities for a city it's size. Lake Michigan is awesome and Chicagoland is only 2 hours away.
Kansas City is too "Middle America" for my taste.
And Wisconsin > Missouri.
That's your opinion. FWIW, most of Missouri doesn't get the oppressively harsh winters Wisconsin gets. Also, both Missouri and Wisconsin have equally interesting topographical features, and the culture varies greatly throughout both of these states. Both are among my favorite Midwestern states. As far as comparing Kansas City to Milwaukee, it depends on what you want more of...the eastern Midwest or the western Midwest...extremely harsh winters or extremely harsh summers. KC gets very cold in the winter, and usually gets reasonable snowfall, but nothing even close to Wisconsin. Wisconsin can get hot and humid in the summer, but rarely to the degree of Missouri or Kansas City. Kansas City is more politically moderate, escaped the rust belt effect and offers barbeque and great music....Milwaukee did not escape the rust belt effect and offers beer, bratwursts, and Lake Michigan. Also, Milwaukee is closer to more cities, although KC is a short drive from Omaha and St. Louis. I myself probably would choose Milwaukee because the idea of being an hour and a half from Chicago, plus living along the Great Lakes, is very appealing to me, and I love mounds and mounds of snow and cold. I have to say that Kansas City for me is a good one stop shopping trip. Also, Milwaukee's culture reminds me much more of my hometown, St. Louis. Mid-sized, progressive, heavily German-influenced, and beer-drinking, minus the hot summers and with the kind of snow to keep me satisfied.
First, the Plaza is not suburban at all. It was built in the 20's and less than four miles from downtown KC. 3 from Crown Center. It really is in the heart of urban KC.
Second, when I think city tiers, St. Louis and Milwaukee are not on the same tier. St. Louis is with Portland slightly above KC and Milwaukee. KC and Milwaukee are slightly above Austin, Indy. But even though they are on the same tier. I think KC is well ahead of Milwaukee.
Actually, CC Plaza is considered "suburban". No, not in the modern sense of being outside the city limits, but suburban in the traditional sense of being in a residential neighborhood, outside of downtown where (until the dawning of the auto age) places like CC and Shaker Square (also considered "suburban" though within Cleveland's city limits) were the 1st shopping centers away from the big city downtown core. Shaker Square, ironically/interestingly, though built during the dawn of autos in the late 1920s, was built to accommodate the, now, blue and green (Shaker Heights) LRT lines, which are among the oldest true LRTs in America.
I think Kansas City is a nice city, but I have to go with Milwaukee. Milwaukee is MUCH more densely populated thatn KC, and has over 100,000 more people. KC's metro is a bigger, but it encompasses a lot more area. If Milwaukee's encompassed that much area, you'd be in the Chicago metro. To me, Lake Michigan is a huge trump card - there's nothing that compares in KC.
Milwaukee, in a walk, beacuse of Marquette, German restaurants, Gothic cathedrals, Lake Michigan, and nearby Chicagoland. And Madison is only an hour away..
I think Kansas City is a nice city, but I have to go with Milwaukee. Milwaukee is MUCH more densely populated thatn KC, and has over 100,000 more people. KC's metro is a bigger, but it encompasses a lot more area. If Milwaukee's encompassed that much area, you'd be in the Chicago metro. To me, Lake Michigan is a huge trump card - there's nothing that compares in KC.
Yea, but most of that land area around KC that is part of its MSA is extremely rural. Very few people. Nearly everybody in the KC MSA lives in the relatively small area where the five core counties meet and each of those core counties is only developed where it meets the other counties, so no single county in KC is built out, but all that extra land is included in stats.
The urbananized population of KC is almost the same as Milwaukee, so is the urbanized density.
Kansas City, MO 1,361,744 in 584 square miles for a density of 2,330
Milwaukee, WI 1,308,913 in 487 square miles for a density of 2,687
So KC is slightly more populated and Milwaukee is slightly more dense, but on a grand scale of things, they are nearly identical.
I stand by my thoughts that KC just has more to offer when comparing the cities of KC and Milwaukee alone. It just has more to do and more going on.
Having said that, I also agree with others on Milwaukee's location on the lake, so close to chicago etc. When you look at those factors, Milwaukee probably comes out ahead of KC. You just can't ignore the fact that Milwaukee is right down the road from one of the worlds greatest cities. KC has Topeka! And the lake is much better than a couple of ignored rivers that pass through KC.
But as far as the cities themselves, I'm going to stick with KC.
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. FWIW, most of Missouri doesn't get the oppressively harsh winters Wisconsin gets. Also, both Missouri and Wisconsin have equally interesting topographical features, and the culture varies greatly throughout both of these states. Both are among my favorite Midwestern states. As far as comparing Kansas City to Milwaukee, it depends on what you want more of...the eastern Midwest or the western Midwest...extremely harsh winters or extremely harsh summers. KC gets very cold in the winter, and usually gets reasonable snowfall, but nothing even close to Wisconsin. Wisconsin can get hot and humid in the summer, but rarely to the degree of Missouri or Kansas City. Kansas City is more politically moderate, escaped the rust belt effect and offers barbeque and great music....Milwaukee did not escape the rust belt effect and offers beer, bratwursts, and Lake Michigan. Also, Milwaukee is closer to more cities, although KC is a short drive from Omaha and St. Louis. I myself probably would choose Milwaukee because the idea of being an hour and a half from Chicago, plus living along the Great Lakes, is very appealing to me, and I love mounds and mounds of snow and cold. I have to say that Kansas City for me is a good one stop shopping trip. Also, Milwaukee's culture reminds me much more of my hometown, St. Louis. Mid-sized, progressive, heavily German-influenced, and beer-drinking, minus the hot summers and with the kind of snow to keep me satisfied.
